Protecting San Francisco Bay From Future Oil Spills
(Sacramento) -- What went wrong? Who is to blame? What can be done to prevent future oil spills? Those are just a few of the many questions asked this week by the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources as it investigated the recent oil spill that sullied San Francisco Bay. In this Assembly Web Report we learn what some of the answers to those questions might be...
Last year, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) sponsored a bill banning two types of toxic chemicals used as fire retardants in foam padding in furniture. These chlorinated and brominated chemicals are linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive disorders; they migrate from furniture to dust particles, are breathed in by children and pets, and are found in the breast milk of nursing mothers. That bill, however, never reached Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk, falling victim to election-year squabbling.
